Today in History

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, June 21, 2010

Today is Tuesday, June 22, the 173rd day of 2010. There are 192 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On June 22, 1940, during World War II, Adolf Hitler gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris.

On this date:

In 1807, a British frigate, the HMS Leopard, attacked and boarded the American ship USS Chesapeake off the Virginia coast in search of Royal Navy deserters.

In 1870, the United States Department of Justice was created.

In 1911, Britain's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union during World War II.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, more popularly known as the "GI Bill of Rights."

In 1945, the World War II battle for Okinawa ended with an Allied victory.

In 1969, singer-actress Judy Garland died in London at age 47.

In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that lowered the minimum voting age to 18.

In 1977, John N. Mitchell became the first former U.S. Attorney General to go to prison as he began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate cover-up. (He was released 19 months later.)

In 1993, former first lady Pat Nixon died in Park Ridge, N.J. at age 81.

Ten years ago: The state of Texas executed Gary Graham for the 1981 killing of a man in a holdup outside a Houston supermarket; Graham insisted to the end that he was innocent. Independent Counsel Robert Ray ended his investigation of the 1993 firings in the White House travel office, issuing no indictments but saying he'd found "substantial evidence" that First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton played a role in the dismissals.

Five years ago: White House adviser Karl Rove set off a political firestorm with a speech to the New York state Conservative Party in which he said, "Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers" while conservatives, he said, "saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war." Federal drug agents launched a wide-ranging crackdown on medical marijuana providers in northern California.

One year ago: Nine people were killed when a Washington D.C. commuter train crashed into the rear of another during afternoon rush hour. President Barack Obama signed the nation's toughest anti-smoking law, aiming to keep thousands of teens from getting hooked. Chris Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault of ex-girlfriend Rihanna (he was later sentenced to probation and community labor). Lucas Glover won the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black.